FLOATING FLYING

16 Jul 15

Phoebe English with Lily Raptor
Venue: NOW Gallery18.00-21.00FREE

The evening will be a continuation and a re-interpretation of the Phoebe English exhibition through live performance; There will be music composed to respond to the installation; and aerial hoop contortionist Lily Raptor exploring the spatial relationships between the objects in the exhibition and the space itself.

Lily Raptor
Venue: NOW Gallery18.00-21.00

Circus performer and circle artist, Lily specialises in hula-hoop, contortion and aerial hoop. She will be reacting to Phoebe English’s exhibition using her colourful and quirky characters, injecting storytelling and humour.

Lily comes from Paris. When she was young, she was so bendy they called her “La femme serpent”. She kept dancing till age 17, but it’s only a few years later when she moved to London that Lily finally discovered the Circus.

She now works as a performer as well as co-director of Chivaree Circus, and commits to turning the new, the weird and the unexpected into reality.

Ben Vince with Seb Silas & Kailin
Venue: NOW Gallery18.00-21.00

Saxophonist, Ben Vince, and two guest performers will respond to the exhibition though channeling the perceptual spatial dimensions of the art, to form an echo chamber with the art through looping and manipulating snatches of melody whilst exploring the textures of the saxophone. In two distinct performances, one a saxophone duo, building loops, embellished with Seb Silas’ (of Mimika Ensemble) exploratory improvisation, and one synth and vocal performance against the backdrop of Kailin’s cascading electronic tapestry, the space will be worked to its fullest extent, the aim being to merge visual and sonic artforms in order to construct a fully immersive experience.

Ben Vince, promoter, DJ and musician is committed to exploring and showcasing cutting-edge experimental music in London, providing transformational aural remedies for confusing and uncertain times. Affiliated with Gabriel Prokofiev’s Nonclassical label, Vince has DJed at Bloc.’s infamous Autumn St. Studios amongst contemporary classical performers and has an ongoing experimental music curation with Hackney Classical at the Russet, called ‘Exit Strategies’. Vince’s saxophone works utilise a simple looping formula to create a transcendent space for the listener to inhabit and move with the ebb and flow of the interweaving textural and melodic motifs.

Films for Phoebe EnglishVenue: NOW Gallery18.00-21.00

When we think about Phoebe English’s fashion, we think materials, vision, textures, precision, crafting, construction… all the things that make anything worth doing worthwhile. We know that muslin, rubber and latex are signatures, and surface is key to the clothes. We’ve noticed she installs rather than simply displays; and that glass has class in her environments. We know she lives in and loves Hackney. We know she gets a lot of her ideas walking from home to work. This sort of stuff is what informs us here. Oh yes, and maybe floating, falling, drowning and flying… (Gareth Evans)